Chiles Ready To Play A Less-than-pat Hand

November 10, 1994|By JOHN KENNEDY Tallahassee Bureau and Diane Hirth and Linda Kleindienst of the Tallahassee Bureau and Maya Bell of The Orlando Sentinel contributed to this report.

Lawton Chiles may have been a crafty "he-coon" in the gubernatorial race, but he could be one of Florida's endangered species - the biggest, baddest Democrat in a state tipping Republican.

Voters gave Chiles four more years but saddled him with a GOP-led state Senate and a state House with a bare Democratic majority. The six-member Cabinet also will have three Republicans for the first time this century.

All told, the partisan balance could make for a rocky second term for Chiles in his effort to "reinvent government."

"You're going to have to govern by consensus," Lt. Gov. Buddy MacKay said on Wednesday. "There will be a much narrower range of things you can do."

Chiles had asked voters to give him another four years to finish a host of reforms already under way, including health care initiatives, tax reform and a continued restructuring of social service and education departments.

The governor said he remains committed to these measures. But Tuesday's results likely will force Chiles to change how he plays his political cards, his closest advisers say.

A Democratic House and Senate would have given him a hand of aces and kings. Instead, Chiles is staring at deuces and fours.

Still, before taking off on a two-day victory tour of the state, Chiles expressed optimism.

"I think what people are saying is, `We're tired of the gridlock of government that does not work, that is about special interests and not about our interests,'" he said.

His message to critics: "We have something that will work here. Come join us."

But House Republican Leader Daniel Webster of Orlando said his party would approach Chiles' initiatives cautiously.

"We're in an awesome position," Webster said.

Webster said that the 21-19 GOP edge in the Senate, coupled with the Democrats' 63-57 margin in the House, means Republican stances cannot be ignored on any piece of legislation.

Chiles "is going to have limited leverage," said Lance deHaven-Smith, associate director of the Institute of Government at Florida State University. "He'll have to deal on every issue and it'll be hard to have any master plan for the next four years."

Chiles preferred to put a positive spin on the broken deadlock in the Senate.

Already, Republicans are dug in against Chiles' plan to subsidize health insurance for working, lower-income Floridians. The federal government bolstered Chiles' efforts this summer by giving the state more control of Medicaid dollars - but that is unlikely to move the GOP, party leaders said.

Chiles once toyed with the idea of calling a special legislative session later this month to tackle health care. That appears unlikely now.

Democrats, however, say the governor may still pitch a new plan before the regular session convenes in March.

Also under GOP attack will be this year's groundbreaking legislation that allows the state to sue tobacco companies to recover health costs tied to smoking. A Republican-led repeal will likely be under way soon, Webster said.

Public campaign financing - which Chiles pushed through the Legislature - also is a likely target of a GOP repeal effort.

Chiles' campaign was fueled heavily by public financing. Republican opponent Jeb Bush refused to limit his spending to get public funds.

The fate of such issues as welfare reform, juvenile justice spending and Chiles' "Blueprint 2000" scheme to give local schools more authority will be subject to heavy Republican massaging, legislators said.

"The one-vote majority doesn't give you the ability to fully carry out your agenda, but what I do believe is it does guarantee that Lawton Chiles is faced with a balance of power," said Sen. Alberto Gutman, R-Miami. "He's going to need the Senate's full cooperation for anything he wants."

Even so, House Speaker-designate Peter Wallace, D-St. Petersburg, said Chiles would be able to adapt to the new bipartisan environment.

"Anyone who is calling Lawton Chiles a lame duck today is vastly underestimating him," Wallace said. "Chiles will be the same person he has always been."

Also, supporters say Chiles has added clout after defeating a tough, well-financed foe in a year that featured the fall of Democratic Govs. Ann Richards of Texas and Mario Cuomo of New York.

Asked how the campaign survived, MacKay said, "He-coons don't make good road kill."